Share this with

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video

The Oscars have had a tumultuous few years with bad hosts, accusations of racism, and a litany of problematic winners that have made the ceremony closer to a soap opera than the grand event it used to be.

With all this, and the face of cinema changing rapidly, there is an argument that the 90 year old institution is rapidly becoming outdated.

Firstly, the awards themselves have become a kind of tragic hypocrisy.

Traditionally it’s been a chance for the great and the good of Hollywood as a kind of large scale virtue signalling, to show how noble the film industry really is and how forward thinking it is on issues of the day.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Except, in reality, it really isn’t.

The Harvey Weinstein allegations opened the doors to an industry rife with abuse, and incidents such as the Sony email hack of 2014 showed backwards attitudes toward race.

It’s hard to justify this as a night of celebration for an industry that seems to have so little to celebrate.

But wait, we hear you say, isn’t it all about the movies, not the people who make them?

That leads us to the second argument: that it’s been a long time since the Oscars was about film-making.

It’s about red carpets, it’s about musical performances, the host’s jokes, who trips over, who forgets to thank their partner, who makes a political statement… anything but the actual films being made.

What should have been a big moment for Moonlight last year was instead upstaged by administrative bungling, so instead of being the year Moonlight won, 2017 was the year they got the envelopes mixed up.

It’s gone from the pinnacle of cinematic excellence to a really well dressed variety show.

If you think we’re being too cynical, try this – remember the Ellen selfie a few ceremonies ago? Without Googling, can you remember the film that won Best Picture that year?

Finally, the idea of a film awards itself is counter-intuitive.

Movies are art, people see different things in them and everyone sees excellence in different ways. So how do you ascertain what a ‘best’ film is? What are the criteria that make a film ‘best’?

Advertisement

Advertisement

It’s certainly not box office – only three of the top 20 grossing films of all time have received Best Picture nominations, and only Titanic actually won.

Rave reviews help, but looking at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, only two of the last twenty best reviewed films of the year won Best Picture (Argo and Moonlight, if you’re wondering).

What makes a film ‘Best’ in reality is completely unclear, given the secrecy of the Academy’s voting process, but it appears to be whatever Academy voters like.

When you take into account that until recently the Academy was overwhelmingly old, male and white, some of the snubs in Oscar history become a little more explainable.

So, is that it? Shall we tell Jimmy Kimmel to cancel Sunday?

No, of course not. Despite all the above factors, The Oscars as an idea still matter.

There is a satisfaction of seeing ‘Academy Award Winner’ next to your favourite movie or actor, just ask all the fans who punched the air when Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor for The Revenant. He was still the same great actor he always was, but this stamp of authenticity seems to matter.

It also offers a chance for different types of films to be made – while the rest of the year is a sea of superheroes, quality still counts come awards season.

It seems to be human nature to rank things, and while the idea of comparing Dunkirk to Get Out, or The Shape of Water to The Post seems baffling when you really think about it, The Oscars are as important to movies as ever.

The problem is that increasing number of controversies surrounding it are threatening to poison that legacy.

If the awards are a reflection of Hollywood as a whole, there is a lot of work to be done for the reality of the awards to match their status.

Let’s just hope that those who run the show remember that responsibility and learn from the many, many mistakes of the past.